GANGNEUNG, South Korea — This is a story about a sheep farmer from Scotland who loved curling. And a dairy and potato farmer from Scotland who also loved curling.

The sheep farmer was really good at curling. He even competed at the Olympics when curling was a demonstration sport. The dairy and potato farmer was also really good at curling. He, too, competed at the Olympics when curling was a demonstration sport.

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SportsPulse: The 2018 Winter Olympics officially kick off with the opening ceremony as well as figure skating and curling action.
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The sheep farmer married and had children. The dairy and potato farmer married and had children. Those children now make up half of Great Britain’s Olympic curling team.

Eve, Glen and Thomas Muirhead are the children of Gordon Muirhead, the sheep farmer.

Kyle and Cammy Smith are the children of David Smith, the dairy and potato farmer. That’s five of the 10 curlers from Great Britain, and they grew up on farms about 50 miles apart.

I know this because I wrote about the British curling team for a collection of Gannett papers in that country. Someone asked me, the other day, how The Commercial Appeal could justify sending me to South Korea. Answer: Gannett sent me to South Korea as part of its Olympic coverage team.

So this Olympics is different for me than past Olympics. I’m not necessarily covering the big story of the day. I’m covering athletes of interest to readers of particular Gannett papers. Like the Muirheads and the Smiths.

They were wonderfully charming, as it happens. Kyle Smith talked about the difficulties of juggling curling and milking. Eve Muirhead talked about playing the bagpipe (really) and running into her brothers at the Games.

“It’s weird, just kind of seeing them around, when you’re in the Olympic Village and things and you’re like, `Oh, that’s a familiar face.’ Then I’ll realize, “It’s my brother.”

Or her other brother.

Two chips off the old stone.

The dairy and potato farmer is going to make it to South Korea to watch his kids compete in the Olympics, by the way. The sheep farmer is staying home. But he has a good excuse. He’s competing in the Scottish Senior Curling Championship. And if both he and his daughter happen to win golds, they’ll win them on the exact same day.

What’s Korean for Gus’s?

I expected a lot of noodle places in South Korea. I didn’t expect so many fried chicken joints. But they are everywhere, on every corner, serving up piping hot fried chicken. Indeed, according to reports, there are more fried chicken joints in South Korea than there are McDonald’s in the entire world.

This evidently began in the 1970s, when cooking oil became more affordable. It really took off in the 1980s and 1990s, when South Korean businesses had massive layoffs, and many of the victims of these layoffs decided that frying and selling chicken would be a fine Plan B.

So how is Korean fried chicken?
Excellent, so far. The batter is thin and crispy. It doesn’t match Gus’s in heat, but it’s not that far off. And a lot of the chicken joints deliver chicken and beer, which McDonald's does not.

South Korean fun fact

Half the population of South Korea has a last name of Kim, Lee, Park or Choi. There’s a reason for this. Certain last names once came with privileges. So the practice of “name trading” emerged, by which families would trade up to a more prestigious name by purchasing the right to use it. This was especially prevalent in the 16h Century, but the results can be seen in phone books (does anyone still use phone books?) to this day.

Mailbag

Dear Geoff,

Could you please stay in South Korea?

— Dave Kennedy

Dear Dave,

Unlikely, but possible, if only because of the chicken.

Quote of the Day

“Drunk person is not allowed. Please use earphones to listen to music.”